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USPS: Arrival At Unit? Really?

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the delivery of my new light meter (for my newly acquired TLR camera) for several days now, watching the USPS tracking page like a hawk. And today in the morning, it said “Arrival at Unit”. I ran downstairs only to find…nothing.

Of course, I had once again fallen for the old obscure-naming-to-confuse-customers trick. Ah USPS, you got me again! Yes, this is not the first time that I had to google what Arrival At Unit means. You’d think it was your Unit right? Your apartment, condo, or house maybe? No, of course not. Don’t you know that Unit actually means a local USPS facility? You didn’t? That’s weird, I thought that was common knowledge. That’s not at all misleading.

A quick google search yields 630,000 results for people asking questions about USPS Arrival At Unit. And this problem has been around ever since the tracking sytem went into place. Downright embarrassing, when it would take next to no time to fix the wording. Oh well.

Well, thats amusing .. at least i wasnt the only dumbarse running to the door when he saw this.

As i eagerly checked USPS this morning I found arrived at unit too to only run downstairs like a crackhead searching for his crack only to find no package… I even called the sender to say he sent it to the wrong address and then he told me… arrival at unit means the post office…

damnit!

hahaha yea i just ran to the mailbox to seeing the same message.

I’m glad you posted this. I was puzzled!!

USPS badly needs a ‘CTO’. They seem clueless on technology, or even common sense things like trying to deliver a ’signature required’ package during 9-5 hours. Don’t they realize people are off at work? At the very least there should be an auto phonecall, email, or text letting you know the package is arriving the next day.

Ho, ho, ho! And here I though all the little children’s presents had been delivered to the wrong address (or maybe the wrong pole, darn penguins would never fess up). Thanks Yan for clearing things up, what a relief. I’ll make sure you get that Cohen brothers box set you wanted. Jack Potter, Postmaster General? You’re getting a lump of coal.

I was hit by this bug today as well! It’s quite frustrating — I called my shipper as well to see about a reshipment, but they told me plain as day to wait until tomorrow, the “unit” in question is actually a whole mile away from here.

the same thing happened to me this morning lol

Same to me :( I was expecting my new phone today, i woke up at 1pm in the afternoon to see my usps tracking status arrived at unit! I ran downstairs and there was nothing there!

Wow. Same with me. Woke up at 1, checked the status. ran downstairs to an empty mailbox. Ironic that im waiting on a phone too.

See, I normally would have ran downstairs, checked behind the bushes, checked behind the plant, stared rudely at people driving by thinking someone got a christmas present early. But, it’s Sunday, and although still slow, I did not have to run downstairs, only had to Google, “arrived at Unit”. In the future I will purchase an item and will know when it arrives by tripping over it on my porch.

Dang i thought i was the only one puzzled lol!!!

Congrats! you have the first site on google when I search “usps what is arrival at unit”

Thanks for the answer

i am glad to know i am not the only one that had to google “arrival at unit”. textbooks for four years at my alma mater… $4500. tuition allowing me to get a useless english degree… $60,000. being made to feel like a complete moron by the USPS… priceless.

correct website posting for the above posting by cassandra. maybe i really am a moron :)

lol..Thank you so much for that info I was about to freak out of my pants thinking that “Unit” meant my house..phew at least I’m not the only one thinking maybe they should just phrase it “Facility”.. This puts me at ease now..THANKS AGAIN!

Freaking stupid PO.

I will say this though, to their credit, they are a heck of a lot faster and more efficient than in decades past! Super fast shipping sometimes, like next day across the country!

At least I am not the only one. Left work early just to get home and get the package before the wife sees it. Wasted 2 hours of personal time. It would be nice if they changed the wording so these mix ups do not happen. Do you think they word it that way just to screw with the general public?

Funnier still is that it’s not in the FAQ on the site, nor is the word ‘unit’ in their ‘glossary of terms’.

I hope i get it today..why is it always like Xmas getting something in the mail. Sometimes I buy stuff just to get a package..even though I can get it at Walmart cheaper.

Change the Wordage USPS you freaked me out again..

Label/Receipt Number: 9101 8052 1390 *&^% 4070 31
Status: Arrival at Unit

Your item arrived at 6:43 AM on February 23, 2009 in FORT WALTON BEACH, FL 32548. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.

I would seriously like to slap whoever phrased that.

This just really ticked me off, I was about to start calling companies, post offices and go to a neighbors house and go off before I googled and found this post here.

Thank god I googled first!
Waiting on my Nokia Internet Tablet. Yay!
This is why FED EX rules when it comes to shipping.
They get it right and tell you a time when it’ll arrive to you even!
USPS gives us half-assed tracking. Well atleast this isn’t two centuries ago with slow service and no tracking.

Yeah… they got me too. I spent 20 minutes climbing the USPS automated phone tree before I thought about Googling it. Thanks for the info!

That is too funny. I ran to the door after seeing that too. LMAO! I laughed so hard after reading the responses, I guess I feel a little better. LOL

I’ve been using amazon to track my package (they sent it by USPS but have their own page with transit updates). When I checked this morning, the most recent entry on the transit log said “arrival at unit.” But the STATUS said, “Delivered.” So I ran downstairs and checked in my mailbox, then I ran upstairs to check behind my screen door, then I ran down stairs and stared at my neighbors screen doors (and maybe looked behind a couple (its spring break here and they’re all out of town and what they don’t know won’t hurt them)) and then I ran back upstairs and did the same with my other neighbors’ door but really really quietly (they might not be out of town) then I ran back inside and checked the internet again and it still said “delivered” so I decided to check with USPS directly, and while they didn’t say delivered they DID say “arrival at unit” at which point I screamed out loud. Then I did a Google search which brought me here… and well, while I might be a spastic moron… at least I’m not alone, because Amazon sure thinks that arrival at unit means delivered, and then there is everyone else here… Hi Friends.

2 mins ago i was this another crackhead running down the stairs and found nothing ! I was a little freak out because i was expected my WEDDING RING!!! so Thanks for posting this !!

HA!! This is too funny reading how people feel just as stupid as I do!

Add me too the list aswell.

@dumbass door runner “only run downstairs like a crackhead searching for his crack”

I’d have stopped with like a crackhead… but I appreciate the clarity of your comment.

What do crackheads do? Search for their crack.

I just googled this… like we are SUPPOSED to know the USPS lingo! Arrived at Unit? WTF? How bout this unit ?

you feel very stupid after you run down stairs all excited eyes wide waiting to say “Yes!” then your like fuck. im gonna google that shit right now.

Yeah, They should be more clear on the status terms. I have shipped usps with tracking before so I knew it had not beed delivered but I was still really confused about what “Arrived at unit” was.

HAHA the same exact thing happened to me this morning!! i was conviced someone stole my package since i didnt see it at my door.
thanks for this information. i will definately call my post office to see when i will get it.

Thanks for the clarification. Although it makes no sense that it arrived at my local USPS place at 6:31AM this morning and it’s not on my doorstep yet… gotta love that top-notch customer service.

Thank you for posting this!! I was ready to “go postal” this morning when my pinhole wasn’t there, the phone was in my hand while I was reading your blog!! You saved the day. Eff their wording!

Thanks for the information! This is utterly ridiculous. I was about to get pissed off at my co-workers, since I’m waiting for an overnight package containing my bride’s and my wedding rings (of course, labeled “Status: Arrival at Unit”). So much for overnight delivery…

thank you same thing happened to me today. i thought someone stole it because i had a xbox 360 in teh mail . now i know it will be here today or tomaarow thank you.

“arrival at unit” my ass. i’m so angry, my unit is about to arrive on someone’s forehead, in the shape of a mushroom tattoo.

@scottie lol!

Same thing happened to me… I sometimes use the word “unit”, but it doesn’t mean post office… lol.

Happened to me too lol. My first thought was that someone stole it and various culprits ran through my mind. I was about to call when I noticed the time stamp was at 8:20am.. hmm odd.. so I google it and voila! Ahh the USPS… can you imagine how many calls they get from angry customers? Imagine if you were supposed to receive something umm “private”?

dang Got me 2!…..i was soooooooooo anxious, like ginuwine lol

These posts are hilarious XD!!!!

I saw the status of Arrival at Unit and went into my apartments main office and i was like “hey I need that package that was dropped off here. I checked online and it said it has arrived” So they said they didnt have it and Im like “ok well… I’ll check back later.” Low and behold, i find this page. USPS is horrible…. like HOOOORRRRIIIBBBLLLLEEEE. I had something shipped from North Carolina to Texas, the package was in transit for only 2 days(priority mail), but now has been sitting with “Arrival at Unit” status for an additional 3 fricken days. JESUS!!!!! Whats the point of paying for better service when you dontn even get it? I hate you USPS, i hate you!

These dirty bastards. I can literally look out my window and see my local usps branch. I ordered a phone at 3 central time, it shipped out 7 eastern time, made it from new jersey to chicago in 8 hours. But now for the last 2 days it is trapped at the unit. USPS, change your wording, improve your service, stop raising the prices, and go fuck yourself.

Wow Im the only smart one, I saw Arrival at Unit @ 5:24am and knew that it was at my local post office becasue I dont get my mail until 1pm and of course USPS use words like arrived when your package gets to your door.

Really? You and your MAC and Safari. I hate you guys. I bet you’ve got an iPhone. Yet, you are so dumb as to not understand simple wording. If it doesn’t say delivered (like it always does), then it isn’t DELIVERED. Go suck your mom’s fat ass and while your at it, don’t leave your dad out of the situation.

thank you for your thoughtful contribution to this post.

just read my name jerk!!

same thing happened to me this morning

Same thing happened to me except it was 9:14AM in the morning. My mail comes mostly and around 1-2PM and well…it’s 4PM and it’s not here yet. Hopefully, they deliver it tomorrow..

I have just forwarded the link to this web site to the USPS. Can’t believe their heads are so far up their nether parts that they can’t figure this out, but sometimes people need a little push. I ain’t holdin’ my breath: the USPS is pretty change-averse. But at least they have been DULY NOTIFIED of the panic and chaos they are creating with their use of the word “unit.”

well i got this message aswell today lol… but didint run outside i knew what the unit was.

gggggg-unit

I have your unit right here USPS… change the message please!

Same thing happened to me, FUCK YOU post office.

Undoubtedly, this is your most popular post ever. The USPS is just stuck in the past.

DAMMIT ya they got me today, it said arrival @ unit at 7:00AM. I was ready to call and raise hell, I took the day off, checked the mailbox 5 times, looked all over my porch, tried to stakeout the mail lady so I could interrogate her (I never even saw her). Talked to myself, was considering that maybe it was some USPS conspiracy theory. Really everything. Then I thought, let me google what “unit” really means. It should be here tomorrow hopefully. Monday most likely. Sigh.

jajaja how many people did the same thing,i run like a bitch when i see on the tracking info.the famous word “arrival unit” My English is a little bad

LOL the same thing happened to me today.. I am soo glad I’m not the only one! Can’t they just say out for delivery ? LOL

You should rename this page “Collection of the dumbest people in the world” Jesus Christ…

Also had this happen. Since when is a unit a post office?

These people aren’t dumb. It’s a simple expectation for the USPS to use clear statements in their tracking information. If they are going to bother to track packages, they should try to do it right. What it boils down to is the difference between a government organization, that does the minimum of effort, and private enterprise whose success depends on trying to be better than the rest.

For an example, Fedex tracking is immediate. You can look up your tracking info immediately after receiving a package and you’ll find the “delivered” status. USPS, you’re lucky if you see it on the same day. This is the same government some people want to entrust with our health care. Amazing.

I’d say the Post Office works pretty fucking well, all things considered.

And newflash “kenth”, we’re getting raped by private insurance companies you retard. But yeah no, that’s clearly the most effective way. And you’re right. Just about everybody in fuckin’ socialist Britain and France is dying. Oh and in Canada. Especially Canada. Everybody in Canada is currently dead thanks to socialist health care.

Amen to this article. Great title. Almost a year after you wrote it and the terrible wording still exists.

“The package unit arrived at our building unit, and one of our vehicle units and delivery units will hand it to a human unit after some time units have passed. Coneheads, out.”

I went apeshit this morning when i tracked a package and it said “arrival at unit”. i, too, ran downstairs to find NADA!!! i drove to the management office too too find nothing there either. I went apeshit because in the past 15 days, 5 out of six packages excluding this one that i am currently waiting on, have been singed for by other people and their status was listed as “Delivered” at usps’s website. Usps wont call me back either regarding this so im about to go postal. I just loaded my .45 acp taurus pt145 millenium pro and am walking out the door to go crack some goddamn eggs. peace!

same thing happened to me today. i saw it and looked everywhere and even asked the people at my apartment office for it. i told them my item said arrived at unit lol

My tracking info has said this for four days, four frickin days it has been sitting at a post office ten miles from me and still not delivered to my P.O. Box, what the crap man? I want my stuff!!

How Annyoing !…this happened to me TODAY…hence I googles…what does arrival at UNIT mean ?…nearly a year since the main comment was posted people are still confused…almost a year gone by and USPS has not fixed the friggin problem…ugh !

I’m pretty sure they won’t ever fix it. Probably the main reason would be ‘retraining’ tens of thousands (?) of employees to understand the change.

Dec. 10th, 2009 here, and I get the “Arrival at Unit” message in my tracker. So I check my mailbox. Had letters, but no package had yet to arrive. So I Google up the terminology and sure enough, here we are. I will probably get it between tomorrow and the coming Apocalypse. Thank you, USPS, and thank you Yan, for making me feel better about not being the only idiot to expect clear wording from the USPS. :D

As for those of you who mock and deride people who thought their package had been delivered over a very understandable mistake, all I can say is shut up. Nobody likes an internet know-it-all who lacks social skills. Now go outside and stand underneath that big bright yellow round thing. It’s called the Sun, and it misses you.

John A.

Well, at least I knew something was up.
It said that my package arrived at the unit…but it said in Goshen, Indiana… The thing is, that post office is about 35-40 minutes from my house and it’s not my city post office. That’s when I knew it wasn’t delivered to my house yet.
Hopefully my package will arrive tomorrow.

By the way, USPS tracking is also known as “Delivery Confirmation”…
When I bought something from Hong Kong, the tracking said “departing from origin post” for about 20 out of the 23 days it was in transit. All of a sudden it arrived at the unit close to me. Wtf…

I know everyone is really eager to to get there packages and there is nothing wrong with the wording. And the tracking sucks sometimes but for the most it is cheap and fast not reliable. Ups may be slower but it is more reliable. And if you dont know the difference between arrival and DELIVERED then you did not understand this paragraph and are most likely angry with me

Arrival at Unit means the package arrived at your local post office. If its before 9am, usually its provided to your carrier for delivery that same day. In the event you do not see the status, as tendered to the postman for delivery, you can call USPS and see if you can attempt a pickup at your local postal office. I too ordered a game player from Hong Kong through eBay and it took two weeks.

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